Scared to fly too far....

[3rdof5]

Back on topic, as far as the capabilities of the P3 go, that video showed how far the P3 can fly on a full battery charge, which was over 6 miles round trip. And thats with an antenna mod on the RC. A normal unmodified setup will lose control signal well before that and initiate RTH with plenty of battery to come home in the same type of straight line flight directly away from the pilot. So the bottom line is, the only thing you need to fear is everything else lol. The AC is trustworthy as long as the pilot is

 

[Quest-So]

The Phantoms are quite reliable. I watched a video of guy testing his RC antenna mod and he flew straight away a total distance of 6800 meters. Thats over 4 miles. He never did lose signal, the AC initiated RTH on its own due to battery level and it just made it home and did a critical battery landing in his yard. Amazing video.

Would you be so kind and ask your friend for the CSV file of that flight ? Asking since it would be interesting to analyse how from a distance of 6800 m, while the bird has entered into the low battery RTH (30% ?) it managed to come safely home from that distance. I mean if the bird has consumed 70% of the battery in the forward direction, how would it manage to retun back safely from that huge distance with just 30% battery ?

 

[3rdof5]

Would you be so kind and ask your friend for the CSV file of that flight ? Asking since it would be interesting to analyse how from a distance of 6800 m, while the bird has entered into the low battery RTH (30% ?) it managed to come safely home from that distance. I mean if the bird has consumed 70% of the battery in the forward direction, how would it manage to retun back safely from that huge distance with just 30% battery ?

Actually it returned home at 70% and i don't know this person. Was just a random video I found on YouTube while searching for phantom 3 stuff.

 

[Quest-So]

Then it’s equally strange. How has he managed to fly the round trip 6800+6800=13.6 km (!) using just 30% of the battery ? Did he moded not just the antennas but the battery too ? Sorry for being so insistent, but when someone is succeeding so much, the acquired knowledge should be shared.

 

[3rdof5]

If you read back abit you'll see I erroneously reported 6800 meters, it was actually 5800. The video of the flight is posted above. He used a screen recorder for the entire flight which shows all the data and the exact point in which RTH was initiated at 70% battery level (correctly calculated by the software as it "just" made it back). Have a look at the video.

 

[3rdof5]

Here's another excellent video of what the phantom can do with an antenna mod:

 

[bdooley]

Sorry, but I got bored after a few minutes and stopped watching.

 

[Macfawlty]

I’ve had my drone for two years now and I haven’t pushed it to the limit to where it automatically come back to me. I’m terrified that thing is just gonna fly away on me I’ve heard stories. It sucks because I like to see what he can do. But just too scared of losing it....

After too many close calls, I still haven’t quite learned my lesson. I need to be a lot more cautious on battery levels cause I underestimate how long it takes to return and descend. These birds do not descend quickly. I also need to be more cautious on signal loss warnings. Buy an insurance policy and fly with less anxiety. As soon as you get a low battery warning, return to home. If you start losing signal, come back a ways and increase elevation.

I think many of the places I’ve flown over the last couple years had various factors affecting the signal. I have the Itelite DBS range extender, but even with that, I still have issues with signal losses and limited range.

The only reason to fly further is to see something significant, not simply to test your distance, which only tests your sphincter muscles.

 

[debit]

Here's another excellent video of what the phantom can do with an antenna mod:

Holy Cow !!! I share your excitement. I was holding my breathe the last minute of so !!! Fantastic, incredible flight !!!

Congratulations on a job well done !!!!

 

[TroyIrl]

Very good suggestions here. Although I will respectfully disagree with intentionally flying BVLOS. If you follow those suggestions above, your drone should return to you. But going 2 Kilometers out, you can't tell everything that is going on around you - only in front of you - If you haven't lost signal.

I take on what you’re saying about flying outside of LOS but if I have open fields in front of me with no one for miles, why would I pay €800 2 years ago just to fly within LOS. Actually why would anyone in my position pay that amount of money to fly within LOS only